


Married by Forty (7) - City of Angels

by Fleppy85



Series: Married by forty [7]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleppy85/pseuds/Fleppy85
Summary: Sara and Sofia get send to L.A. for advanced training, but instead of learning, they meet Sofia's "twin" and end up in a case together with Navy CIS. A little cross over with NCIS LA
Series: Married by forty [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809649





	Married by Forty (7) - City of Angels

Part 1

“I need to ask a favor, Sara.” Grissom had called her in his office just before her shift ended. He looked concerned.   
“What is it? Do you need me for a second shift?” She didn’t notice they were that busy. She had closed her case and did some paper work because Grissom hadn’t called her for a new case. Did one just came in? One he didn’t want the day shift to handle?   
“No. I need you to stay away for a while.”  
“What?” Did she hear right? Did he tell her to stay away? That had to be a bad joke. Was he sending her into forced holidays? That couldn’t be. She had used almost all her holiday and overtime. Since she and Sofia were using this shared house stuff Sara had used most of her holiday days and overtime hours. She wasn’t the one with the most overtime in the department anymore. No reason to send her home for a while.   
“Not on holiday, I want to send you to advanced training.”  
“What? Advanced training? Why? What about? When?” The last time she had been to an advanced training day she was surrounded by boring people and had to listen to people who sounded like they’d fall asleep while they’re talking.   
“In Los Angeles.”  
“L.A.? Okay. What is the topic?”  
“Cooperation with police, secret service and medical examiner.”  
“Why me?” That didn’t sound like fun or like anything Sara was interested in. It sounded like politics and she was the wrong person for politics.   
“Because Brass sends Sofia and we thought you’d be perfect to go with her.”  
“Really?” Or were they only trying to keep her away from Las Vegas? To give her time and space?   
“Yes. Or do you not want to go with her to L.A.?”  
“Of course I do.” If she had to go to Los Angeles to an advanced training about politics she wanted to go with Sofia.   
“Thanks.”  
“When will we have to leave?”  
“The flight is at four, you’ll be picked up at the airport.”  
“Four? Today?” He had given her no chance to change her mind. Now she knew why he didn’t give her a new case last night, he wanted her free to go. Didn’t want to give her the chance to say no because she was investigating a murder.   
“Yes.”  
“In that case I should go home and pack. How long are we supposed to stay?”  
“Pack for a week. It’s until Sunday.”  
“I’d whine that you destroy my weekend but I was due to work anyway so it doesn’t matter. Do you think the department pays for a shopping trip on the Rodeo Drive?”  
“I doubt it.”  
“It was worth a try. Okay…I’ll see you in a few days.”  
“Yes. Thanks Sara.”  
“You send me to beaches, I’m sure we don’t have to work all day long and there might be an afternoon for swimming. If not I want two days off after we closed the case.”  
“You can have them.”  
“Thanks. I need to talk Sofia into that too.”  
“Don’t forget to look busy every now and then.”  
“I will…while I’m on the beach.” Sara smiled and left the office. Time to go home, pack her things, have a sleep and go to the airport. Advanced training with Sofia in Los Angeles. The topic sounded boring the fact that she was there with Sofia made up for it. 

“You’re really coming with me? Wahoo.” Sofia literally jumped in Sara’s arms after she dropped her suitcase in front of the bench.  
“I do, yes. Careful, I’ll lose my towel.”  
“I don’t mind that.” Sofia grinned. She had surprised Sara when the brunette came out of the shower.   
“You’re awful.”  
“Honest.” Sofia sniffed at Sara’s throat and shoulders. “Mhm, Calvin Klein. Are you having a hot date that you use expensive stuff like this for your shower? Did you know I’d come along and you put that on for me? Knowing I can’t resist you with CK.”  
“You can’t resist me anyway.” Sara laughed ready to play this game with Sofia.   
“True. Have you packed?”  
“No I wanted to have a shower first. You’re ready to leave?”  
“Yes.”  
“And you want to stay here so we can go to the airport together.”  
“I love your smart mind.”  
“Where would you like to sleep?”  
“That is a real stupid question for somebody with such a smart head. I start to warm up the bed or…did you have breakfast?”  
“I’m not hungry.”  
Sofia furrowed her brows. “You’ll eat something, Sara Sidle! Go and back, dress if you have to but you’re more than welcome to stay half naked or completely naked while I’ll make some breakfast that you will eat.”  
“Are you my nanny?”  
“Worse, your best friend. Move it.”  
“Drill instructor.”  
“Just remember my mom. Some of her blood runs through my veins too.”  
“I can see that.”  
Sofia made a face, got her suitcase out of the way and started cooking.   
“Do you look forward to the advanced training in L.A.?” Sara came back in shorts and a shirt.   
“No, it doesn’t sound exciting, more like politics. But Jim said it’s about to see how the other departments work. Me, being an ex CSI, I know two kinds of the law enforcement. Now I can learn how the medical examiner works, which rules they’ve to keep and why our federal friends are always right.”  
“They are good, they are special.”  
“They’re not as good as I am and not as special as I am.”  
“You shouldn’t be that smug there.”  
“It’s not smug, it’s honest. Would you like parsley and chives in your eggs?”  
“Yes.” Sara came to Sofia, who stood in front of the stove and put her arms from behind around her friend. “Looks good.” Her head rested on Sofia’s shoulder she watched her breakfast.   
“You can’t stop eating and living because he’s gone.” Sofia whispered and got Sara’s hands before the brunette could withdrawal.   
“Sofia…”  
“No Sara, you can’t. I know it hurts but if you stop living and only exist for the job you’ll destroy yourself.”  
“I don’t want to talk about that.”  
“You never did.”  
“Please…change the topic.”  
Sofia turned without letting Sara out of her arms. “Talk to me. Or if you don’t want to talk please let me hold you so that you’re not that alone. It hurts to see you that sad and it hurts even more that you don’t want me to help you.”  
“There’s nothing you can do.”  
“I can’t make him come back, no. I can be here for you, I can hold you, I can offer you my shoulder to cry at. If you let me.”  
“You went away too.”  
“I was away for a night, you’re gone since two weeks. You need to come back to life, Sara. Please. I love you too much to let you suffer like that without trying everything to help. And if you don’t want my help, you’ll hurt me but I won’t stop trying. You know how stubborn I can be.”  
“I do.”  
“Make it easier for you and me and let me be with you, let me help you.”  
“Do I have another choice?”  
“You can try to keep me out but I won’t leave you alone.”  
“It looks like that…you burn my breakfast.”  
“Sorry.” Sofia turned and was very pleased when Sara didn’t pull her arms away and stayed close to the blonde. The crumbled eggs were slightly brown, maybe a little bit darker brown, but not burnt. They were still a good breakfast. 

“We need to talk.” Four words. Four serious words. Four words Sara knew would change her life, would turn her world upside down and would destroy a dream she had lived for eight months. She didn’t want to talk, she didn’t want to listen, she didn’t want anything to change, she wanted everything exactly the way it was now.   
“Okay.” Why did she say okay when it wasn’t okay? When she wasn’t okay? She could hear it in Ryan’s voice, she could see it in his face. He wasn’t able to look at her. He couldn’t bear to look into her eyes.   
They had met in a park, had a walk, a talk and now they needed to talk. Now Ryan needed to talk to Sara, hurt her.   
“I got an offer from the police department in Oklahoma City.”  
“Oklahoma City?”  
“Yes. I used to work there, went to academy there. They want me to come back.”  
“You’ve a got here, the LVPD needs you too.” I need you, was what she wanted to say, what she was really saying. Don’t leave me, don’t go. Don’t ruin our life, our future.  
“They offered me a job as a captain. I’d be the youngest captain in their history. LVPD won’t offer me that position in the next years and I want to make chief of police. I’ve the chance to fulfill this dream there.”  
Sara said nothing. What was she supposed to say? He was right. If he wanted to b e a chief of police he couldn’t stay in Las Vegas. He didn’t have the connections he needed for that job and there were too many waiting in front of him to become captain.   
“When are you leaving?” No need to pretend something, he had made his decision. He would leave. Leave Las Vegas. Leave Sara.   
“Sara…”  
“Don’t Ryan….just tell me when you’ll leave.”  
“Next week.” That was faster than she had expected. It was like he was on the run.   
“Okay.”  
“Don’t say okay.”  
What else was she supposed to say? He had made his decision, he hadn’t asked her if she wanted him to go, he hadn’t asked if she was alright with this decision. He hadn’t let her be a part of his decision, his life, his future. It was all his, nothing was their. Their time was over and he had ended it.   
“What do you want me to say?”  
“I don’t know…yell at me…swear…hit me…do something.”  
“Nothing will change anything.” Screaming? Yelling? Hitting? She knew that from her home when she was a child. There was no way she’d do the same. Never.   
“I don’t want to hurt you.”  
“You do hurt me Ryan. Or do you think I’m happy that you’ll leave me? I love you, I’m everything but happy about your decision.” She had to stop herself, She didn’t want to end up whining and crying in public.   
“I’m sorry.”  
“So am I.”  
“I wanted to say no when they offered me the job…but if I’d refuse to take it, the day that I’ll regret it will come, I’ll get frustrated about anything here in Vegas, will start to think how much better Oklahoma City would have been and I’ll blame you for it. I’ll blame you for not being a captain, for not having the chance to become chief of police and for everything that will annoy me in the job. I don’t want to blame you for things that are not your fault but it’s in the human nature to blame others. I don’t want to do that to you Sara. I don’t want you to feel guilty when I’m sad, unsatisfied and in a bad mood. You would blame yourself for it. Every time I’d be unset you’d blame yourself and you wouldn’t be happy.”  
“I can be selfish and just be happy that you’re here.”  
“If you would be that kind of person I wouldn’t love you.”  
“If you would love me you’d ask me to come with you.”  
“I thought about that.” Ryan sighed. “I did. Often. You love Vegas, you love your job here, you don’t want to leave your colleagues, you would never be as happy in Oklahoma City as you’re here. I won’t ask you to give all these things up. You’re happy here.”  
“I’m happy with you.”  
“As much as I’d love to believe that you can’t replace me, I think it will be harder for you to replace everything else.”  
“That’s not true.”   
“It is. It doesn’t feel like that now, but it is. Believe me.”

“Sara?” Sofia’s hand stroke softly over Sara’s arm.   
“Mhm?” The brunette opened her eyes. She must have fallen asleep. And again this dream. Ryan. How he told her he’d leave her. She had no idea how often these pictures were running in front of her eyes in the last two weeks. All the time. Whenever she wasn’t concentrated on her work all these scenes came back, made her feel sad, tortured her.   
“You were dreaming.”  
“Sorry.”  
“Don’t be.” Sofia got her arm around Sara. She had heard Sara crying in her sleeps, not loud, only loud enough for the blonde to hear it.   
“Do you think I need a shrink?”  
“No, you don’t need a shrink.”  
“I act like a school girl…should be over that…it’s not the first time I was dumped.”  
“That doesn’t mean you don’t suffer. It always hurts.”  
“You didn’t whine around that much.”  
“Marco and me weren’t together that long and somehow I knew the whole time, it won’t last for long. He never said it will be forever. All he promised was that he won’t cheat on me.”  
“Maybe it’s in my DNA…my parents weren’t married happy and didn’t live happy together forever. Why should I?”  
“Because you’re not your parents.”  
“They’re a part of me…I am made of their DNA.”  
“You’re the best of them!”  
“The best? I’m not sure about that. At least I didn’t kill my husband when I was thirty-six. Maybe it’s better that I won’t get married, I might end up like my mom…it’s safer for everybody when I’m single.”  
“Stop talking stupid crap, Sara. You’re not a killer. There’s no killer gene in you. I trust you with my life, I know you’d never hurt me, no need to mention killing me. I’d marry you without being worried about my safety. And if we end up married with forty I’ll be glad that it was me who was allowed to be the one to marry you.”  
“We can’t get married in a legal way.”  
“I don’t care if the state of Nevada will accept it, it’s about the wedding, the whole thing. It’s a symbol. And I want to promise you that I’ll always be there for you, that I’ll never leave you.”  
“Never say never.”  
“You know I love my job but there’s no way I’d accept an offer for a better job if that means I’ve to move to another city. You come with me or I’ll stay in Vegas. The job isn’t my life, some things are more important, family is more important, health and you. You are more important than family and health. I’d leave my family here but not you. I’d give my life to save yours. So yes, I’ll never leave you, Sara Sidle. The only chance to get me out of your life is to tell me you don’t want me in your life anymore. And I don’t think I’ll accept that. You need some really good arguments.”  
“I tried a few you’re still here.”  
“If that was all you have you can be sure I’ll never leave. Come here, Grumpy Smurf, give me a hug and a kiss and snuggle in my arms.”  
“We’re in a plane.”  
“And?”  
“What will the people think?”  
“Do I look like I give a fuck?”  
“With this attitude you’ll never be chief of police.”  
“Doesn’t matter. I’m fine with being captain one day. And before that I want to be a mom.”  
“You should look for a man in that case and not tell me that you’ll never leave me.”  
“I don’t need a man to get pregnant but I do need you.”  
“Me? Why me?”  
“As a babysitter.” Sofia laughed. “When I need a night out, dancing, flirting, singing…”  
“You won’t bring a man home when the baby is in the apartment.”  
“Okay I’ll go to his place and come back later…”  
“You’ll stay with your child.”  
“I trust you.”  
“I’m not good with kids.”  
“Bullshit. You’ll be a great second mom. Do you want a boy or a girl?”  
“Me? I don’t want a child at all.”  
“For us. A little Sara?”  
“Stop talking creepy things like that.”  
“If our child had your cute little gap…ouch.” Sofia held her side. Sara had pinched her but she was smiling a bit. That was all Sofia wanted. To get a smile back in Sara’s face. Even when the eyes of her friends were still sad, a little smile was a start. 

Sofia had no idea how the advanced training would be but no matter how that would go, she liked her room in the hotel. First she was anxious they had to stay downtown Los Angeles, in the middle of skyscrapers and the only view out of the window would be another few skyscrapers but they their accommodation was in West Hollywood and in front of their window was a pool, a few palms and only smaller buildings.   
“We can sit on the balcony in the evening.” Sara came out of the little kitchen with a bottle of beer. There was a little shop a few blocks away and they went shopping before they started to make themselves comfortable in their room.   
“What? We’ll go out and pay a visit to the party scene. We’re in WeHo, we can’t sit in our rooms. We need to go out and celebrate. You can use a good…dance.”  
“Dance?” Sara cocked her head.   
“Yes dance. Thanks.” Sofia took her beer and they walked on the balcony.  
“Who did book our room?”  
“I’m sure the department booked something like two single rooms and Jim or Grissom changed that to a twin room. Do I have to sleep in my own bed or can I sneak into yours?”   
“Didn’t you want to go dancing? You won’t be in my bed at all, you’ll find yourself a new bed every night with a cute guy in it.”  
“Honey, this is WeHo, I won’t find a man who’ll be interested in me.”  
“In that case you’ll end up with a few women in bed and don’t have to worry that you’ll be pregnant at the end of the week. There’s always a bride side.”  
“I want to end up in your bed and if that’s not possible I’ll take my own bed.” Sofia placed her head in Sara’s lap. These two sunloungers were handy, they could lay around in the sun before they had to sit in a room for hours and have dinner here.   
“No party?”  
“Not without you.”  
“I don’t think I’ll feel like party after eight hours of boring talk and lectures what to do and how you’re nice to people who just destroyed your crime scene.”  
“I don’t destroy your crime scene.” Sofia protested. She was one of the other people at a crime scene.   
“No, you know how to work without destroying evidence, your colleagues don’t. They walk through a scene, leave their boot prints, destroy evidence, make more work and we’ll get told off for being too slow. And then the feds are coming, taking over, take away all our evidence and won’t tell us what they’ll do with it. Nobody appreciate the CSI job.”  
“I do.”  
“You’re special.”  
“I know.” Sofia took Sara’s free hand in hers. “I’m glad you agreed on this trip, Sara.”  
“Why? You’re scared you had to share your room with somebody else?”  
“I had a single room if you weren’t here. I’m glad we’re both here and you can leave Vegas for a few days behind.”  
“What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas.”  
“It’s not that simple. But I’ll try to get your mind to something else than law enforcement and men. I’ll take you out to the drag queens and after you asked for two days off after this trip I’ll take you to Disney Land. We’ve two nights in a hotel there.”  
“Do we?”  
“Yes.”  
“I didn’t know the department books our holidays.”  
“They didn’t, I did. You wanted Disney Land, we’re in L.A., I took the change after Grissom told me you want to stay two nights more and booked us a hotel. You’re caught here with me, Sara, no change to run away.”  
“I’m a prisoner. A princess in a castle, looked away by a dragon.”  
“Yes if there’re men waiting in front of our door to see you I’ll scare them away.”  
“I thought here are only gay men.”  
“Right, I forgot. Let’s be full of prejudice. I’ll scare away all the women.”  
“I really doubt anybody will notice me. We’re in West Hollywood, all the Hollywood stars and the rich women of Beverly Hills are around. Nobody will care about a CSI from Las Vegas. I’m not the sexy blonde.”  
“You’re the beautiful and sexy brunette.”  
“But next to my stunning blonde nobody will waste a second for me. They’ll all stare at you.”  
“Perfect. That means I’ll have you for myself. Now I only need an mp3 player for these boring eight hours tomorrow and I’ll be fine for the rest of the week.”  
“You always start singing when you’re listening to music. If you use a mp3 player it won’t take longer than a minute and you’ll be singing out loud the chorus of a song and everybody will stare at you. I’m sure Jim won’t appreciate that.”  
“You know how to spoil some fun, Sara.” Sofia made a grimace and finished her beer. How was she supposed to stay awake for eight hours? Maybe she and Sara could play battleship. That had kept her awake in school why not here too?

The building their advanced training was in was in down town Los Angeles. With the metro local line 2 they headed towards the city center, enjoying the free little city tour that was included in this trip.   
Sara liked the houses in Beverly Hills they saw and made the decision on their way back they had to stop there, she wanted to take some photos of the Regent Beverly Wilshire, they had seen on their way down town. And when she was there it was only a few yards to the famous Rodeo Drive.   
With two coffees she walked from the little snack bar in the room. Sofia was already in, wanted to safe them two seats far at the end of the room so that nobody would notice when they’re bored and not listen. The first day was filled up with speeches of people who took themselves more important than they were.   
“I’m already bored to death and I’m sure ninety percent of the women in L.A. are not natural. The one in the snack bar had faked lips. I’m surprised that she didn’t die of botox poisoning after that injection.”  
“If you’re talking about the blonde I’m sure her boobs are also not natural and her nose is over-worked.”  
“Yes, you’re…you are not Sofia.” Sara stared at the blond woman she had seen as Sofia. The same long blond hair, the same build, even their faces were very similar, the strange woman had a little bit stronger cheek bones and Sara was sure, could look very firm.  
“No I’m Lara. Lara Macy.”  
“Sara. Sara Sidle. I’m sorry, I thought you’re my friend, she looks a little bit like you…” A little bit? This woman looked exactly like Sofia. Sara was confused. If that wasn’t Sofia where was her friend?   
“You’ll see a few blondes in Los Angeles.”  
“I found that out. I bet most of them are not real.”  
“Nothing in L.A. is real. Where are you from?”  
“Las Vegas, CSI. You?”  
“NCIS L.A. I live with all these faked people.”  
“There you are, sorry I was getting some snacks to stay awake.” Sofia came over. In her hand a big bar of chocolate and some potato chips.   
“Sofia that’s Lara Macy, NCIS L.A. and she damn looks like you that’s why I told her I think the woman at the snack bar has faked lips. Lara, that’s Sofia Curtis, LVPD.”  
“No rank?” Macy asked amused.  
“Lieutenant. Sara likes to forget that all the time, she knows it annoys me.” Sofia cocked her head. Yes, this woman looked like her, well Sofia of course looked better and younger but if you didn’t waste a second look you could mistake her for Sofia. Sara, as Sofia’s best friend, should have seen the difference.   
“So you’re friends from Vegas.”  
“Yes. We work together since four years and our bosses thought we’d be perfect for this…this course.”  
“It’s about working together with the other instances, you should be a perfect example for them. Aren’t you interested in telling us all about it?”  
“No!” Sara gave Sofia her coffee and sat next to Macy. Now that they knew each other she could stay here. Sitting next to Sofia and her twin. She wondered if the other two women were as amazed about the their same look as Sara was. Macy was dressed a little bit less formal, not in a suit like Sofia but her face was more formal.   
“Sara?” Sofia poked her friend.  
“Sorry. I’m still amazed how similar they two look.”  
“Can you concentrate on the course?”  
“Uhm, if I have to.”  
“Just try not to stare at us and don’t snore in case you fall asleep.”  
“I think I can manage to stay awake. Don’t smack.”  
“I never do…how long will the first one talk and when is the first break?”  
“Are you already bored, Sofia?” Macy asked.  
“Kind of.”  
“Tow hours.”  
“Holy sh…ame. A whole day with speeches, I wonder if there’ll be something interesting coming up?”  
“Tomorrow the departments will talk about their work, that sounds a little bit more interesting. You can tell CSI what they do wrong and that they need to work faster if they want you to keep the streets clean.”   
“I used to work as a CSI, you won’t hear anything bad about them from me. The brunette does complain about the police work.”  
“Only when they walk a million times through the crime scene, leave a mess and we need to compare a few dozen of boots and if we want the boot prints of the officers, some of them give us a hard time. Police boots, no need to get prints, they’re all the same…I could kick them sometimes.”  
“You tell me who’s bitching around and I’ll tell them they’ve to do what you tell them.” Sofia smiled.   
“You want to be unpopular with your colleagues?”  
“If that makes your job easier, yes.”  
“I think the two of you don’t need this seminar, your work already close together.” Macy said.   
“True but we’ll enjoy this few days in Los Angeles. You’ve got beaches here, we have only sand.”  
“Are you planning to leave this earlier to go to the beach? Skipping two hours of speeches because nobody will notice when you’re not back after lunch?” Macy asked firmly.   
“Uhm…” Now that she mentioned it, it would be a great idea. At least until Sara saw Macy’s look. Maybe somebody would notice they were gone.  
“We’d never do something like that.” Sofia helped Sara out.  
“Really?”  
“Really.”  
“What a shame, I hoped you take me with you. I live in Venice, not too far away from the beach.”  
“Under these circumstances we might think about that again.” Sara grinned and looked at Sofia.   
“You want us to leave early the very first day? What will your boss say when he finds out?”  
“Don’t waste your energy on speeches, use it for the important things later. What would your boss say?”  
“If I had been in your shoes I had never showed up there in the first place. A day full of speeches isn’t something that helps to work better with the other departments.” Sofia could imagine how Jim had turned around and walked out of the building straight after somebody had given him the time table of today.   
“What would your boss say, Lara?”  
“I don’t have to worry about that.”  
“Because your boss won’t find out?”  
“Oh no, she’ll know the second I get up and leave.”  
“Is your boss here?” Sofia looked around if anybody was listening to their conversation.   
“Yes.”  
“Where?”  
“She sits right next to Sara.”  
“Huh?” Sara looked at both women.   
“I’m the boss. I didn’t send some of my people to be bored, I let them work while I’ll have to listen to all these speeches. If I go home after lunch nobody will tell my boss, I’ve to tell myself and I plan not to tell me.”  
“Why aren’t Jim and Gil here? Why did they send us?” Sara wondered.  
“Because both don’t like that. Gil would sit here the whole day listening if it was about bugs but it’s about politics and both don’t like that. That’s why we’re here. They sacrificed us. And gave us a nice room.”  
“Where do you stay? In the hotel around the corner like most?”  
“No, in a small motel in WeHo.”  
“That’s far away.”  
“It is a longer bus ride, yes but we’re happy with that. I prefer some time in the bus, gives me the chance to wake up and we don’t look at buildings all the time. WeHo is better than down town. We can have a party every night.”  
“And sleep in here.”  
“It’s warm, it’s dark, it looks perfect for a sleep.” Sofia grinned. She would have no problems to fall asleep while somebody was talking. That was like school and she some really nice sleeps in school. 

Part 2

They made it to lunch and left the building then. With Macy’s car Sara and Sofia got out of down town and towards Venice. Sara and Sofia wanted to go back to their motel first to get some towels, but Macy said, she had enough towels for them. If they don’t need their beach outfit, they’d be free to go straight to Venice. Neither Sara nor Sofia wanted to go swimming today, all they wanted was burying their feet in the sand and enjoy the sunshine with the sound of the ocean in the background.   
“Are we on the Route 66?”  
“We can go there. If you want we can walk from Venice up to the Santa Monica Pier where the Route 66 starts. It’s not too far away. I live a few blocks behind the craziest part of the Venice beach.”  
“We can see the Venice Beach boardwalk.” Sara smiled.  
“Yes. If you’re ready for crazy people.”  
“We’re used to them, we’re from Las Vegas.”  
“True.” Macy stopped in front a small house. “Wanna come in?”  
“I think I’ll go over to the snack bar over there. I need some lunch.” Sofia said.  
“Yeah, a bar of chocolate and potato chips as a second breakfast, you must be starving.” Sara giggled.  
“I shared all that and yes, I am hungry. Some people do eat every now and them.”  
“And some never stop. I’ll join you and get some drinks for the beach.”  
“Okay, I come over when I’ve changed and bring towels for you. Anything else you need?”  
“Suncream.”   
“Of course we blonde get burnt easily. I’ll be with you in five minutes.”  
“Okay.” Sara smiled and grinned when she and Sofia were alone.   
“What?”  
“Blonde? I’m not sure about her, I didn’t bother to look that close but I know somebody who isn’t a blonde.”  
“The one who sold me the chocolate.”  
“Means I know two who aren’t real blondes.”  
“There’s no proof that I’m not a real blonde, Miss Sidle. Do you have any evidence?”  
“Shall I come very close and see if there’s no dark hair growing under the blonde?”  
“Don’t you dare to come that close to me.”  
“Why? I was that close to you last night.”  
“It was at night, that’s something different.”  
“Is it? I’ll have a look tonight then.”  
“Can’t you annoy Macy with that?”  
“I can ask her, maybe that’s the difference between you and her, she’s a real blonde.”  
“I bet I’m younger and I look better.”  
“Do you?”  
“Yes I do. And you as my friend should say the same.”  
“I worry about the age as soon as I know something more about the hair color difference.”  
"You really like teasing me and my hair, don't you?"   
"You react in a very funny way. Why don't you just say that you dye your hair? It's nothing bad, million of women do that every day."   
"It's nothing that changes my personality."   
"So why are you so closed up when it comes to your hair?"   
"Because I hate stupid comments like I dye my hair because men like blondes more or I want to be a blonde to get more success in my job. People do talk such stupid things. They say you're a blonde so you can sleep your way up to the top."   
"Everybody who knows you knows you don't sleep your way up the department. You're a smart woman, a good cop, you'll be captain one day because you're talented and you're perfect for that job. Your hair color doesn't change that."   
"I know but I like my hair blond."   
"It looks good."   
"Why change it?"   
"Why did you change it from...what is your natural hair color? I'm your best friend and I don't know your natural hair color, leave alone that I've never seen a photo of you with whatever hair."  
"It's brown, darker brown and I do have photos of me as a teenager and brown hair. If it's really important for you I can show them to you."   
"It's not important, I'm just curious."   
"Did you never dye your hair?"   
"No. It never came into my mind. It's only hair, it's there so we don't feel too cold in winter and if everybody would be bald, the world would look a little bit more boring."   
"You can have a tattoo on your head."   
"Of what? Long blond hair?"   
"For example." Sofia laughed.   
"I think I prefer the hair I have. Okay, blondie, what do you want to eat for lunch?"   
"I'll take a bag of potato chips and some chocolate. We can have something warm tonight. Is that alright with you?"   
"Yes, I'll take a salad with me."  
“You are always so boring healthy.”  
“It’s like Yin and Yang, you’re the unhealthy one and I’m the healthy one.”  
“Do you want me to feel bad for that?”  
“No, not at all.” Sara got her arm around Sofia. “I’m fine with that. I make sure you eat something healthy every now and then and since…I’ve more time again, I can have you over for dinner every second day and cook something healthy. A salad with a low fat steak, a vegetable soup with fresh bread or low fat French fries out of the oven. There’s always a way to make your junk food more healthy.”  
“You take away all the fun out of the food. Very mean. Oh well, if you cook for me every second day, I’m going to cook for you every other second day. We’ll be together every day, isn’t that lovely?”  
“I can hear some sarcasm but I do like this idea.”  
“So do I, so do I.” Sofia placed her head for a second of Sara’s shoulder. She had missed spending a lot of time with Sara when they both had their boyfriends and later when Sara was with Ryan and Sofia was single again. That was the only good thing of them being singles again, they had more time for each other. 

Macy had left them for a swim, to have a better look at the surfer, as she told them.  
“She looks like you and she acts like you. Impressive.”  
“You want to take her with you to Vegas?” Sofia was amused. She didn’t see Macy so much alike like herself but it was always harder for yourself to see the similarities.   
“I’d love to. I think it would be great to work with her.”  
“You want to stay here and you take her with you?”  
“No I don’t.” Sara poked Sofia in her side. “Stupid question.”  
“Typically blonde, isn’t it?”  
“Apparently yes.”  
“So maybe this is only a typical stupid blonde observation but I think L.A. suits you. You’re happier since you’re here.”  
“It gets my mind away from Ryan, yes.”  
“That’s good.”  
“I still miss him…love him.”  
“Of course you do but I hope you understand that life will go on.”  
“I know life will go on…but I still wish it would be like three months ago.”  
“To go through all this again?”  
“To catch this stupid letter that told him he can go away and be a captain and keep him in Vegas.”  
“If it wasn’t that letter there would have been another. He wanted to be a captain, Sara. There was no chance for you to change that.”  
“What is with you police guys that you always want to be powerful and need to get a better and better job? Can’t you just be happy with your job and start to have a private life? Or is a private life always only number two after the job?”  
“I don’t think you can say that for all cops, I think it’s up to the people.”  
“So why do I always get people who are more in love with their job than with me? I must be very stupid to do the same mistake all over again.”  
“You’re not stupid.”  
“I’m not sure about that.”  
“Will you stop that! Stop thinking of him and stop telling yourself it was your fault. Forget the past and look at the present. You’re in Venice, there’re so many hot guys around, you can pick one and he’ll make you forget Lieutenant whatever-his-name-was.”  
“I’ll try.”  
“Good. If you suck I’ll pack you and throw you in the ocean…naked!”  
“I’ve to arrest both you in that case.” Macy came back to them and sat on her towel. “Public nuisance.”  
“A naked Sara is a lot but not public nuisance. People will be delighted.”  
“Shut up, Sofia.” Sara pinched Sofia.   
“I can see you’re more than just colleagues.”  
“She was my best friend until she started to be annoying.” Sara grumbled.   
“She loves me but she has her own to show it. You need to know her to understand her love. But it’s a deep and strong love.”  
“I can see that, it looks like…” Macy’s cell phone rang. “Sorry, I need to take that one.” She answered the phone.   
Sara whispered to Sofia: “What if that is one of her colleagues, wondering where she is at the advanced training? Do you think she can get some trouble for not being there?”  
“She’s the boss.”  
“Yeah but every boss has a boss.”  
“…I’ll be there right away…okay…” She finished the call. “Sorry, I need to end this here. And the seminar too, I’ve a new case.”  
“Do you need a CSI and a lieutenant?” Sara asked.  
“We have that in L.A. too.” Macy laughed.  
“Yeah but we’re the best you can get in the whole US of A.” Sofia grinned wide.   
Macy laughed again. “You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you Sofia?”  
Sara tried to hide a loud laughter and started coughing. She couldn’t have said it any better.   
Sofia ignored Sara’s cough. “It’s called self-assured and it’s the truth.”  
Macy thought for a second. “Oh well, why not. I can’t promise anything but if my boss and your bosses are alright you can work with me on the case. I think we can need all help we can get. Come on I need to change.”  
“No more advanced training?” Sara smiled. That would be something great. She was sure Grissom wouldn’t mind if she was working on a case with the NCIS Los Angeles. They were here to see how the other departments of the law enforcement were working and that was a practical example.

“Do you know what this case is about?” Sofia asked when they were back in Macy’s car.  
“A dead child.”  
“You’re NCIS you don’t come for any dead child.”  
“She’s the daughter of a marine, the commander of the ship that came back from Iraq last week.”  
“How old?”  
“Four.”  
Sofia bit her lips. She wished she had stopped Sara from asking to help Macy out. This was exactly the kind of case she tried to keep away from her friend.   
“You guys need to talk to your bosses if you really want to help.”  
“I’ll call Grissom.” Sara took her cell. She knew Grissom would be awake. Like her, he almost never slept. And she knew too Sofia didn’t want them to work on the case anymore since she knew what the case was all about. She had felt without a look in her friend’s face. Yes Sara had problems with cases of child abuse and dead children but there was no reason why she couldn’t work them. Cases like that weren’t easy for anybody.  
“I’ll give Brass a call. What do we tell them when they ask how we got this case?”  
“Tell them you met me in the morning, we started talking and I got a call to come in. Kindly you offered your help because you’re the best.”  
“It’s all true.” Sofia grinned. A few details were left out but all Macy said was true.   
“See, so easy.”   
“Hey Gil, it’s Sara…no I’m not on my way back to Vegas.” Sara chuckled. Okay, it was possible that she was so annoyed of the seminar that she had changed her mind and booked the next flight home, she couldn’t hold thinking that against Grissom.  
“Listen we met this special agent from NCIS Los Angeles and she just got a case. Kindly we offered our help and if you and her boss are alright with that, we’d investigate the case with her…I think it’s the best way to see how NCIS handle cases and we’re here to learn that, aren’t we?…no I don’t use that as an excuse…what do you mean with did I spend any time at the seminar today?…no I went there…no…yes…god Gil, they were talking the whole day, nothing else than puff pieces of themselves and nothing about work…yes…no…okay…talk to you later.” She closed her cell.  
“He knew you left?” Macy asked surprised.  
“Yes. He knows me. But I did try it.”  
“Is he alright with you helping me?”  
“He is. He’ll call if you want, Sofia.”  
“No I’ll tell him myself. I doubt he will have a problem with me working with you but for the protocol.”  
“Your bosses seem to be easy going.”  
“They know us, they like us, they won’t mind if we skip stupid seminars for real work. What kind of boss are you?”  
“Firm, serious and strict. At least that’s my colleagues always tell me.”  
“You left the seminar and spent a few hours at the beach.”  
“Like you two I don’t want to waste time or energy listen to people who need to toot their own horn.”  
“True.” Sara looked out of the window. They weren’t driving to the harbor, they were on their way up to the mountains, Hollywood Hills. She needed to prepare herself for the dead child. She couldn’t break apart when she saw the body, she needed to be strong and she needed Sofia to be there for her. There was no need to asked for that, she knew Sofia would be with her anyway. 

“I need you to wait here first until I’ve cleared that you can join us, okay?” Macy asked when they had arrived at the scene.  
“Alright.” Sara and Sofia got out of the car. The crime scene was at an old big house. They were at the border of the Hollywood Hills, the buildings around them were still nice but not as big as the ones they had seen before.   
“You know I’ll be very close to your side all the time.” Sofia said quietly.  
“I know.”  
“I’ll see when you’re not alright and I won’t hesitate and get you out of here in that case. Do you understand me, Sara? I’m happy we’re here, that you’ll work this case.”  
“I’ll be fine.”  
“You’ll be observed all the time.”  
“But you won’t carry on your arm off the scene, will you?”  
“Don’t bet on that.” Sofia said seriously. She’d do anything to get Sara away from something that wasn’t good for her. No matter if Sara would hate her for that after it.  
“You know you’re the only person who’s allowed to talk to me like that? Without pissing me off.”  
“Because you know I love you and that’s why I tell you this things and would do this things.”  
“If I wouldn’t love you too, I’d tell you something really rude in that case, lieutenant.”  
Sofia smirked. She was happy that Sara was quite cool about her concern.   
Macy came back and by her side was a man with short light brown hair.   
“Callen, that are lieutenant Sofia Curtis, LVPD and Sara Sidle with the CSI LV. Ladies that’s Special Agent Callen, he’ll take you to the scene. I need to talk to the boss and the chief of police. There’s a little fight whose crime this it.”  
“Sounds familiar…you can use what you learnt at the seminar today.” Sara smiled wide when Macy rolled her eyes.   
“Come on in. I guess you want to see the crime scene. Our medical examiner is with the body so is our crime scene team.”  
“We don’t want to step on anybody’s toes.”  
“Macy said you guys are good and we can need all the help we get.”  
“What did happen?” Sofia asked  
“This morning the four year old daughter of commander McKay was found dead by her mother. Her father came home from Iraq last week and we suspense that there’s a relation between his job and her death.”  
“Were there any threads?”  
“Not that we know of it.” They entered the house. Photos of marine ships were on the walls. Without wasting any time downstairs Callen guided them upstairs to the bedroom of the child. The walls were full with poster of cartons and animals, dolls and teddy bears were lying around and a little table with pens and painting were under the window.   
An elderly man was kneeing over the body, examining it.  
“Lieutenant Curtis, CSI Sidle, both Las Vegas. Doc Miller.” Callen introduced shortly.  
“Las Vegas? I thought you’re fighting with the L.A. authorities.”  
“We do. They’re friends of Macy, want to help us.”  
“Really? You want to have a look at the body? CSI Sidle was it, wasn’t it?”  
“Yes.”  
“Lieutenant, what would you like to see?”  
“I used to be a CSI too, I’ll stay with you if that’s alright.” She wanted to be close to Sara. There was no way she could walk around and ask people questions, it wasn’t her case. She was helping, she could go with somebody but not on her own.   
“A CSI who’s now a lieutenant. Changed the sides?” Called asked.  
“I’m still on the same side, it’s still about catching the bad guy. Only my work place has changed a bit.”  
“Doc?” Sara was next to the coroner and pointed to some bruises. There were several on the child’s shoulder.  
“I saw them. The TOD is the early morning, these bruises are older.”  
“It changed from purple to green, it’s something between four to six days old.” The time when the father came back from Iraq but Sara didn’t want to say that. It could be a coincidence even if she didn’t believe in coincidences.   
“Yes.” The girl wore a pj.   
“How was she killed?”  
“My suggestion is that she was choked look at her eyes.”  
“Are there any traces of forced entry?” Sofia asked Callen.  
“We haven’t found them yet. Want to have a look with me?”  
The blonde hesitated for a second. Sara threw her a look that told her to go, she was alright.   
“Sure.” Sofia followed Callen downstairs.  
“Where are the parents?”  
“At the HQ. We needed them their to question them and have them out of the way. It was kind of hard to get them away from their girl.”  
“I guess so. She’s the only child?”  
“Yes.”  
“That’s even worse.”  
“Do you have children?”  
“No. Not yet. You?”  
“I’m not married. It’s kind of tricky in this job to have a family.”  
“That always depends on what and who you call family.”  
“Who do you call family?”  
“Beside the obvious part? The most important person of my family is upstairs. Sara is colleague, friend and family.”  
“I know what you mean. Macy is family…talking about Macy…you look like her.”  
“You think?”  
“Yes. Beside that you wear your hair open.”  
“I can tie it back if it confuses you otherwise.”   
“No I prefer it open. Should say that Macy.”  
“She’ll tell you to mind your own business and concentrate on your work.”  
“You actually talk like her. That’s scary.”

“She’s gotten to you.”  
“What?” Sara turned surprised around. She hadn’t heard the young man who entered the room. The coroner had taken the body with him and Sara was left alone in the room. Was that the CSI who was responsible for the scene.  
“The girl, she got into you. After only a few minutes?”  
“And you are?” She asked more to change the topic than interest.   
“Nate Getz, you can call me doc.”  
“The coroner left already.”  
“I’m not that kind of doctor, I’m a psychologist.”  
“Great find the killer of the child.”  
“Is that your way to tell me to stay out of your head?”  
“I’m sure you’re a good shrink.”  
He smiled a bit. “I’m not a shrink.”  
“Do you have any idea who killed her?”  
“No, I want to talk to the parents later. What do you think? A girl killed in her parent’s house, only a week after her father is back from Iraq. Do you have any ideas, Miss…?”  
“Sidle, CSI Las Vegas.”  
“I heard we have some guests. You think it has something to do with the father.” It wasn’t a question it was a conclusion.   
“Do I? I never said so.”  
“You don’t have to use these words. I could see that in your eyes when I mentioned the father.”  
“Stay out of her head. Doc.” Macy came in the room.   
“Macy…”  
“No. Don’t go there. I want you in the room to tell me what you think what happened here and not to tell me what Miss Sidle thinks. She can tell me her impressions herself. I want you to make the room, the house talk.”  
“You ask for a lot.”  
“You’re the best I expect nothing than a lot of you. Talk.” Macy leant at the door frame and didn’t keep her eyes of her colleague.   
“She was exposed. Somebody wanted us to see her like this, right in the middle of the room. The window is open, it’s cold at night. She’s only four but she was able to close a window and I bet, if that window was open all night, she woke up at some point and would have closed it.   
There were bruises on her body, old ones. I bet the coroner will find more old than new bruises. Choked by a pillow. Weapon of choice? There’s no ladder in front of the window, no traces of a ladder and no trees are around, we’re on the second floor, you need something to come in the room. Nobody broke in through that window, Macy.   
The girl was killed in here but the killer entered through her bedroom door.”  
“Can you verified his suggestions?” Macy looked at Sara.  
“If you give me a kit I can check for prints on the window, can look who touched the window last and if somebody touched it from the outside. We’re not likely to find something whoever breaks in a house of a marine is well prepared and wears gloves.”  
“Why do you think somebody wanted his daughter dead?”  
“He suffers more when he loses his daughter than his own life.”  
“Doc?”  
“I agree with Miss Sidle. Taking away the child or the spouse is a bigger punishment than being killed. You have to live with the pain, you have to live with the knowledge somebody killed your daughter, son, wife, husband because of you. If it wasn’t for you, your child or spouse would be still alive.”  
“I want you to go back to the HQ and talk to the parents. Tell me what you think of them, go in their heads.”  
“Okay.”  
“Nate?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I want whoever did that fast.”  
“Understood.” He left the room.   
Macy came over to Sara. “Sorry that he poked around your head. It’s a bad habit of him. A case like that gets to everybody.”  
“He’s good.”  
“He’s better than good but there’s no need to tell him that.”  
“He knows that already.”  
“Yes he does. And that really pisses me off. I hate it when he’s in my head.”  
“I had the feeling he can look right through me.”  
“He can.”  
“I don’t think I could work with somebody like him.”  
“You learn to live with that. He knows where he has to stop.”  
“Does he?”  
“As soon as you tell him to get out of your head he does so…at least I hope that. You’ll never know.”  
“Scary.”  
“It’s Nate. Our CSI is downstairs, if you want you can work with him. Sofia is outside with Callen, she’s more a CSI too.”  
“She was acting supervisor, she knows what she’s doing.”  
“I never doubted that.”

“I don’t want to answer this call.” Sofia called from the balcony when her cell phone rang in the room. Sara, who was in the room to get something to drink, took the phone and handed it to Sofia.  
“Mhm thanks…Curtis.”  
“It’s Brass, how is it going?”  
“We finished for today.”  
“Any clues?”  
“We’ve a dead girl, no signs of entry but some evidence that a stranger was in the garden. No suspects so far but we’re only helper so I’ve no idea how much they really know and what they tell us.”  
“For a good co-operation everything.”  
“Yeah. You should see their HQ, it’s the newest stuff. If I’d be an e-geek I’d stay here.”  
“You need smart people otherwise all machines will be stupid too.”  
“They have smart people. What doesn’t mean we’re not better.”  
“Of course we are. Listen, are you planning to go back to the advanced training?”  
“Uhm, do I have to?”  
“You can stay on that case?”  
“Yes.”  
“You don’t have to go back. Try to get something from the boss there why he needs you.”  
“She.”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“The boss is a she.”  
“Good looking?”  
“Around two dozen people told me today she’s my twin.”  
“Bring her back to Vegas.”  
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that, Jim. Go to work your head needs to work.”  
“Enjoy the evening and the time in L.A..”  
“I will. Bye.” She closed her cell and was tempted to switch it off.   
“I think it was very good that I mistook Macy for you this morning.” Sara said.   
“It got us out of the advanced training. As your best friend I’m disappointed. Don’t see the difference between her and me.”  
“She was sitting with her back to me, hidden somewhere in the back, exactly where you wanted to find two seats for us.”  
“Hair tied up.”  
“You do that sometimes…” Sofia cocked her head.   
“Once month…” Sara went on. “Oh for heaven’s sake screw it. You damn look like her.”  
Sofia went over to Sara and got her in her arms. “She looks like me, Sara, not the other way around. She’s a year older and she’s a natural blonde.”  
“How do you know?”  
“I’m good. Don’t you think I deserve something special for finding that out?”  
“There’s chocolate in the fridge.”  
“Maybe I’m not after chocolate.”  
“If you’d be a guy I’d say you want to get laid. As my best friend I hope you don’t think something like that and your desire is perfectly harmless. What do you want, Sofia?”  
“You. In my arms. The whole night.”  
“Again?”  
“Can’t get enough of you.”  
“Somehow I don’t believe that.”  
“I let you work this case, Sara but I want to be very sure you’re alright. If you have a nightmare tonight I won’t let you go back to the scene. And it doesn’t matter if I have to handcuff you to the bed here, you won’t go. Am I clear?”  
“You know you can’t tell me what to do.”  
“Don’t dare me. I’ll risk trouble with you if I can’t have you safe otherwise. You, my dearest friend, do the same.”  
“Having you with me should scare all nightmare away.”  
“I take this insult as an approval.”  
“This smug sound again. Give me a break from that I had it around in a double version the whole day. Although she isn’t as smug as you are.”  
“Did you compare Macy and me the whole day?”  
“No I didn’t have time for that. I like working with her, Callen is nice and Nate scares me.”  
“He go into your head?”  
“Yes.”  
“Macy was complaining about that. Callen is hot.”  
“Of course you think like that.”  
“Yes. We should have invited him over. I’m sure we can have some fun with him.”  
“Are you talking of a threesome?”  
“He might be able to satisfied us both.”  
“Your minds get dirtier the older you get. I think it’s time you find a decent man to marry and get your thought out of the gutter. Wedding, a few children, housewife, knitting in the evening and preparing breakfast in the morning, kiss the kids and the husband good-bye before you make your weekly spring-clean.”  
“Something like that will never happen, Sara. Never. He has to stay at home I’ll go on working. And if I can’t find a man, well as soon as I’m forty I’ll have a look around for in-vitro fertilization. I’ll have my two kids before I’m forty-five and I’ll be a captain before I’m fifty. No man will change anything of that. It’s written in stone.”  
“Like the Ten Commandments?”  
“I thought they’re written on paper. Doesn’t matter. Fact is I’ll never be a housewife.”  
“Good. All I wanted was to make sure you’re working with me for the rest of our life.”  
“I will.” Sofia got her arms around Sara’s neck. “You won’t lose me that easy, Miss Sidle.”  
“I don’t want to lose you, Miss Curtis.” Sara smiled. She wanted a lot of things in life. Losing Sofia wasn’t part of this list at all. 

Part 3

"Hello doctor Miller."   
"Macy, Miss Sidle, are you here to see Flora Humpert?"   
"Yes, You finished the autopsy?" Macy asked.   
"I did."   
"Anything special?"   
"I've got something sad. The girl was sexual abused."   
"Shit."  
Sara felt how she got rigid. She had known it. There were so many hints, she had tried to close her eyes, not to see them, but she knew thy were there.   
"The virginal membrane was broken, I can't tell you when but there was no recent blood."  
"So it wasn't in the night she died."   
"No. There were some bruises and she was injured on 3 and 9 o'clock, but there was no blood. Whoever did that to her did that before last night."   
"The father is back since one week. Can you find any evidence that gives us a time when it started? Anything that gives us time, person?"   
"I'll make further examinations. So far I can't give you any time or date, only that it started before last night."   
"Thanks doc. COD?"   
"She was choked, likely with a pillow or something soft. I found fibers in her throat and sent them to traces. Some other fibers under her nails, no skin, at least I didn't see any. She lost a tooth the night she died. I found it in her stomach. that is consistent with the bruises in her face and the split lip. I think somebody hit her in the face, broke the tooth and choked her to death."   
"Makes you wonder what sick people are walking around. Anything else?"   
"Not so far."   
"Okay, thanks doc."   
Macy and Sara left the morgue.   
"What do you think, Sara?"   
"I...don't know...there were boot prints around the house. Somebody broke in, abused the girl and killed her..."   
"It looks like that."   
"Yes..."  
"But?" Macy felt that Sara had something on her mind, so had she but she   
wanted to hear what Sara thought first.   
"It doesn't make sense. You find a little girl murdered in her room and she was sexual abused, you think the perpetrator abused and killed her so that she can't call for help or tell anybody who did that to her. According to doc Miller Flora was abused before last night. Why kill her now? If he wanted to be sure she can't tell anybody what he did and who he is, why didn't he kill her right away? After the first abuse. I doubt this was the second."   
"So what has changed?"   
"The father is back."   
"You mean the killer was scared Flora would tell it to her father and that's why he killed her? Isn't it more likely that a little girl talks to her mother?"   
"I don't know." That was a topic Sara didn't feel comfortable and safe in.   
"I preferred to talk to my mother when I was a child. Although that changed because my father is a FED and she always wanted me to be a secretary like herself. She wasn't happy that I was more a tom boy than a princess. Flora on the other hand, looked more like a little princess to me and not like a tom boy."   
"Did you talk to the parents?"   
"Yes. They were asleep. When they woke up around eight and their daughter wasn't around they thought was tired. The family had a long movie night the evening before and Flora had watched TV until nine. The mother brought her to bed, they watched another movie, the father checked on her after eleven, everything was alright, they went to bed."   
"Was he back immediately."   
"I assumed so." Macy understood what Sara was suggesting. "Eleven p.m. doesn't fit to the TOD, that was around two."  
"Do we know if Misses Humpert has a deep sleep?"   
"No. Do you think the father did that?"   
"I don't know. Usually it's the father but when the abusing started before that night, it can be anybody else. He was away, who else is around? Older cousins? Neighbors? Uncles? If her uncle took care of her when the mother was away, nobody wonders what he's doing. Or a neighbor boy. The mother needs to go shopping for an hour, the boy seems to be reliable, he likes kids, why not ask him? There are always a lot of possibilities."   
"We need to talk to the parents again."   
"We?"  
"You're investigating with us, you've a smart head on your shoulder, maybe you can make them remember something. Or do you have a problem with that, Sara?"   
"No."  
Macy stopped and took a good look at Sara. When she was sure nobody was around she said: "Cases like this trouble you, don't they? More than other people."   
"Everybody has cases he or she doesn't like."   
"True. I won't take this further, it's your decision if you want to go on with this topic, it's my business to be in your head, to analyze you but I can tell you, if you need somebody to talk, you can talk to me or Nate. He is really damn good I'm sure you won't need many words to make him understand."   
"I'm alright, I can work the case, don't worry."   
"I never doubted that. Alright, let's get the parents to here." 

“You’re going to talk to the parents?” Sofia had heard of Macy’s and Sara’s assumption and wasn’t happy that her friend was right in the middle of this case.   
“Yes.” Sara could see what Sofia thought. “I’ll be alright.”  
“I’d like to be around, be with you.”  
“I don’t think that’s possible. I can cope.”  
“I don’t like it.”  
“Of course you don’t.”  
“Can I do anything for you?”  
“Believe in me.”  
“I do. More than in anybody else.” Sofia got her hand carefully on Sara’s arm.   
“Don’t you dare to hug or kiss me.”  
Sofia started laughing. That was so Sara.   
“Me? Never!”  
“You? All the time.”  
“Honey if I’d kiss you all the time you’d be too busy to kiss me back and be too amazed by my kisses to work.”  
“Smuggy.”  
“Your Smuggy.”  
“Yes.” Sara stroke with her finger over Sofia’s hand. “I’d like to have dinner with you tonight. In a small restaurant, a quiet one. Is that alright with you?”  
“Of course. Shall I be your dessert?”  
Sara giggled. “No.” She shook her head. “I’m on a diet.”  
“I promise you won’t gain any calories with me. I’ll make you lose them in long hot sweating hours.”  
“Will you stop talking like that?” Sara poked Sofia.   
“Why? Does it turn you on and you’ve no idea how to resist me any longer?”  
“I’ve no idea how to resist the urge of pinching you.”  
“With a kiss?”  
“I think WeHo isn’t good for you. You’re turning gay.”  
“And? Something wrong with that?”  
“Only if you try to hit on me.”  
“Honey we promised we’d marry when we’re both single with forty. How do you call that?”  
“A promise to have some platonic fun. Stop hitting on your best friend; especially because she’s a single since only two weeks.”  
“That’s the best reason to get laid again. Forget the past.”  
“Not my style.”  
“At least you say ‘no’ because it’s not your style and not because of me. I can live with that.”  
“If I wouldn’t like you that much I’d think you’re really annoying.”  
“You love me and you like to play with me like I like to play with you. We’re even. Come on, I’ll go with you to your interview room.”  
“Bodyguard?”  
“Every inch if you want me to.”  
Sara rolled her eyes.   
“I still think it’s Macy who comes in the room.” Callen said when Sara and Sofia entered the room behind the mirror.   
“They’re different. Look at the way Sofia looks at Sara and how close they are. You’ll never see that with Macy.”  
“How do I look at Sara?” Sofia asked interested.  
“Your eyes are filled with love. Your eyes soften as soon as you see her. That tells me she’s very important for you and you’re very close.”  
“I consider her as family and she’s the most important person in my life. Make out of that whatever you want.”  
“Now she sounds like a pissed off Macy, you got the wrong topic, Nate.”  
“Looks like.”  
“For somebody who’s poking around other people’s head that’s a poor show. Couldn’t you see she doesn’t want to talk about her and Sara?”  
“Looks like I made a mistake.”  
“Try to figure out our relationship, our colleagues do the same and still have no clue.” Sara blinked at Sofia. “I’ll be working with your double. Keep my back clear, will you?”  
“Of course.”  
“And stop them from talking about us.”  
“Oh I enjoy the gossip. Let’s see what they come up with. I’ll keep you posted.”  
“No need to. I’m still not into gossip.” Sara left the room.   
“Friendship.” Nate said. “Close one. Teasing, flirting, there might be something between you and her but you’re too good friend to find out what it might be. You both like the safety your friendship gives you. Sara is troubled, I think it’s a…”  
Sofia turned and looked with sharp eyes at the psychiatrist. “I’ll say this only one time, Nate, I won’t repeat and I wish there won’t be a reason for me to repeat this: Leave her head, Nate. Right now! Don’t you ever dare to poke around her head and say out loud what you found or think what you found. Never. Understand me? And don’t you dare to mention anything about that when she’s around. Leave her alone, concentrate on the case. Sara isn’t your case.” Sofia kept her voice calm and low but she made it very clear to Nate that she was very serious about what she said. She was impressed about how the young man could look in somebody’s mind but she didn’t want him poking around in Saras and talking about what he saw. 

"The parents are waiting for us." Macy was leaning next to the door to an interrogating room.  
"With lawyer?"   
"No, they consider themselves as victims."   
"They are." No matter to which conclusion they came, the parents would be victims. One of them might be a guilty victim, but one was a victim like the daughter.   
"Are you ready?"   
"Yes."  
"Let's go." Macy opened the door. Sara felt a little bit uncomfortable. Not only because of the case, also because she was in the room. It wasn't her job, somebody from the NCIS L.A. team should be in here with Macy and not Sara. She hoped she didn’t step on somebody’s toes then again Macy wanted her to be here, Sara didn’t ask for it.   
Mister Humbert was a tall man with gray short hair. His eyes were ice blue and filled with sorrow. His wife was petite, long brown hair and red eyes. Both seemed to hold on to each other, tried to support the other during this hard time.   
"Misses Humbert, commander Humbert, thanks for coming in. This is Sara Sidle with the Las Vegas crime lab."   
"What has Las Vegas to do with this?" Commander Humbert asked.   
"She's helping out with the forensic as an forensic expert I met during a seminar this week." Forensic expert? Sara didn't know that she was an expert. She wasn't a doctor like Grissom, not even a supervisor like Cath. She was just a CSI level 3. And Macy didn't know anything about her and her work - unless she hadn't contact Grissom yesterday to make sure she was a good CSI.   
"I'm sorry for your lost."   
"Do you have children, Miss Sidle? Misses?" Misses Humbert asked bitter.   
"No I don't."   
"Then you do don't know how it feels to lose a child."   
No she didn’t know how it felt to lose a child, she knew how it felt to lose a parent. Both parents. But that wasn’t topic here.   
"No I can only imagine and I know imagination won't be as big as your sorrow. That's why I'm here, I want to help you finding out who did that to your daughter."   
"Did you find any evidence?"   
"We found some evidence." Macy answered for Sara. "Misses Humbert, were you the only person who looked after Flora? Or did she have any babysitter?"   
"I was at home all day to make sure she isn't alone. It isn't easy for a child when the father is most of the time away, we didn't want her to deal with the absence of her mother too."   
"Who else is on a regular base in the house?"   
"Why do you ask things like that?" Commander Humbert demanded to know. "What did you find?"   
"We found some boot prints and would like to know if they are from a visitor or if they might be from the perpetrator."   
"Nichlas, the son of our neighbors came over quite often." Misses Humbert said   
"Is he a friend of your daughter?".   
"Yes."   
"How old is he?"   
"Four. My daughter was a child, when she met other children, they were in her age. They live right next to us. Nichlas and Flora were friends from the very beginning." The boot prints were size 12, they belonged to an adult. But she would talk to the father, he might have taken advantages of the friendship of his son and the neighbor daughter. Nobody would think something bad when he goes over to take his son home.   
"Any regular visitors? Brothers? Cousins?"   
"Of course is my family around and visits us. My sister comes in twice a week, my parents usually on the weekends."   
"Who visited you in the last four days?" The prints weren't old, it had rained a few days ago and the prints were made after the rain.   
"Half of the family because my husband is here. Uhm, I think it were your and my parents when you came back on Sunday, your parents stayed until Tuesday. Your sister and your brothers were there on Sunday, your old high school friends on Monday. Do you need the names of all these people?"   
"I'm afraid we do. And their contact dates so we can rule them out as suspects."  
“None of them hurt our daughter, they are family.” Mister Humbert said.   
“It’s routine.” And too often were perpetrators family members. Something no family wanted to hear.   
“What did you do the night before your daughter died?”  
“We all watched a movie together. Usually there’re no movies during the week but because my husband is back, we lose some of the rules and let her watch a movie with us. It was nine when I brought her to bed. We watched another movie and went to bed after eleven. We…my husband checked on her before he came to bed, everything was alright and when we woke up…” Misses Humbert stopped talking and cried.   
“Was the window open when you checked on your daughter, commander?”  
“No. It was a fresh night, Flora felt cold easily. When we left the window open because we thought it was warm, she closed it herself.”  
“Did she ever open it herself?”  
“No. It wasn’t only the cold, she was also very scared any insect could come in her room. She hated an open window.”  
“We couldn’t find traces of a broken lock. Who has a key to your house?”  
“We, our parents.” Commander Humbert looked at his wife. “I think that’s it.”  
“Do you know where your keys are? Where your parents keep their keys?”  
“I’ve my key right here with me.”  
“So do I.” Misses Humbert said. “And our parents? I guess they’ve them somewhere in their houses. When they come along for a visit they don’t bring the keys with them. They’ve the keys in case of an emergency when I left mine in the house and can’t come in.”

“I’ve no idea where to look for the killer.” Sara buried her face in her hands. They had talked for over one hour with the parents and got no information about the killer or how he could have come in.   
“Don’t push yourself too hard.” Sofia got next to her friend, pulled her in her arms.   
“There must be something, everybody leaves traces. We need to…”  
“Sara, stop it.” Sofia shook her friend. “Don’t make yourself feel guilty. You did everything you could, you still do it.”  
“We haven’t got anything.”  
“Sara…if you can’t get some distance between you and the case I’ll ask Macy to send you away. I won’t let this case get you.”  
“You’ve no right…” Sara stopped when she saw Sofia’s look. “Sorry.”  
“I worry about you. I don’t say these things because I want to annoy you or don’t trust you but it’s not good for you.”  
“I’ll be alright because you’re there.”  
“You are already not alright. I’ll try to catch you but I need your help. I need you to stay away from situations that will make you suffer. I need you to keep some distance and I need you to be by my side.”  
“I love to be by your side.”  
“Good.”  
“Did you and Callen find anything?”  
“No. We were listening to you and Macy. They hope doc Miller and the evidence will give them some new ideas.”  
“So we’ll wait.”  
“You can go home.” Macy came in the room.   
“What?” Sofia asked surprised. They were supposed to help and not to go home.   
“There’s no need to sit around, I’ll give you a call if we find something. I’ve no idea where to go, there’s no evidence, these boot prints are not helping.” Macy looked at Sara. “You need a break.”  
“I’m fine.”  
“Sure. If you don’t want me to call Nate you let Sofia take you home. There’s no need to explain me what you have but I can see you’re not alright and I don’t you in the team like this. Get a break, go down to the ocean, have walk through Hollywood, anything that will distract you.”  
“She looks like Sofia, she talks like her, that’s annoying.” Sara mumbled grumping.   
“That’s what you need.” Sofia smiled a bit..  
“Bite me.”  
“Okay.” Sofia got her teeth into Sara’s throat and bit her carefully.   
“Do that again and you’ll find yourself in hospital.” Sara’s eyes got narrow.  
“Don’t offer me to bit you if you don’t want it.” Sofia grinned not reacting to Sara’s evil eyes. She got up and offered the brunette her hand.   
Sara took it after a short hesitation and got up.  
“I’ll call you if we find something else. Try to have a nice afternoon. After all you don’t have to go back downtown and listen to all the boring things.”  
“If you won’t tell our bosses we won’t do it.” Sofia smiled.   
“I promise I won’t tell them. I’ll call you later.”  
“Thanks. Good luck.”  
“Thanks we need it.” Macy left the room.  
“Are you mad at me or can we go like friends?”  
“Even when I’m mad at you I’m still your friend.”  
“Good.” Sofia smiled and opened the door for Sara.   
“Where do we go?”  
“I think I know a nice place.” 

An hour later they were sitting on a bench, two pizza cartons next to them and a big bottle of coke.   
“So what do you think? Do you feel like a star?”  
“No.”  
“Why?”  
“Some letters don’t make me feel like a star.” Sara got a huge piece of pizza. They were sitting at the reservoir in Silver Lake, watching the little lake and the Hollywood sign further away.   
“Not? Damn it, I wanted to offer you to drive up to the sign.”  
“We can go there if you want to see it.”  
“What would you prefer?”  
“Working.”  
“No, please, not the old workaholic Sara. What happened to my friend? The lovely brunette who knew what fun is?”  
“I can’t enjoy an afternoon with the open case…I’ve the feeling that I haven’t seen something really obvious, something that leads us to the killer. There’s this little voice, telling me all over again I’ve to think harder to see the obvious thing.”  
“Sara, don’t push yourself.” Sofia got her hand on Sara’s.   
“I don’t want but there is this voice…like…I don’t know…like I should know who the killer is. It’s like not to see the wood for the trees.”  
“There is nothing to see, Sara.”  
“Nothing we do see.”  
“I wanted you away from Vegas to forget Ryan.” Sofia closed her pizza box. “Now I wish we would be there and you’d be sad instead of feeling guilty here.”  
“I didn’t forget Ryan. How could I?” Sara sighed.  
“I still don’t understand how he can prefer to be a captain than being with you.”  
“You want to be a captain too, you should understand.”  
“I’m ‘only your friend’ and not your lover but for me you’re more important than the job. If they’d offer me to become a captain in Vermont I wouldn’t take it. My job isn’t my life, there are more important things to me than working. I prefer to be a lieutenant and have you than being a captain and see you only once a month or something like that. I can’t imagine my life without you Sara. I need you, I need the time we spend together, I need your opinion, I need you to look out for me. There’s no rank and no money that can replace you.”  
Sara got Sofia in her arms. What was she supposed to say to these words? It was obvious her best friend loved her more than her job, a job that was very important to her.   
“I’m very happy to have you as my friend Sofia. And it’s not ‘only my friend’ you’re more, you know that. You’re my family and I prefer to lose Ryan than you. I’ll survive without him, the pain will go but I couldn’t survive without you, I couldn’t cope without my smug and arrogant blonde.”  
“Stunning blonde.” Sofia mumbled in Sara’s neck.   
“Stunning, hot and sexy blonde. And I’ll have this delicious piece of meat in my bed tonight.”  
“Delicious piece of meat? I beg your pardon, Miss Vegetarian.”  
“Being a vegetarian means I won’t eat you.” Sara smirked.  
“Maybe I’d like that. I had my teeth in you today, you could return that favor. Very gentle of course.”  
“Don’t flirt with me.”  
“Who said stunning, hot and sexy blonde? Who called me a delicious piece of meat?”  
“Aren’t you?”  
“That’s not the point.”  
“It’s the truth”  
“You are flirting, not me.”  
“Shall I stop?”  
“Don’t you dare, I love to hear compliments. Go on.”  
“No, I think I’ll use my mouth for some more pizza.”  
“No chance to change your mind?”  
“Want me to put my topping on you?”  
“If I can get you wear nothing more than chocolate sauce and you let me lick it away we’ve a deal.”  
“I explore new sides of you, Miss Curtis, sides I haven’t known before. Is it the city that makes you this strange?”  
“No I think I just need some sex.”  
“You won’t get it from me. Stop wasting time and energy and concentrate on somebody else.”  
“I like challenges.”  
“I won’t have sex with my best friend. What is more important to you? Sex or our friendship?”  
“I thought I made myself clear that there’s nothing more important than our friendship. Who’s the blonde?”  
“The real blonde? Macy.” Sara grinned and got poked. 

“Sara, wake up!”   
Hands around her shoulder grabbed her hard and shook her. Irritated, trying to fight these hands, Sara wanted to scream but couldn’t get a out a word.   
“Sara, wake up!” Sofia repeated. She had felt like the brunette had tossed and turned, she had heard the whine and the cries, she had felt how Sara was sweating and cold. Her friend was in the middle of a nightmare and she was caught in it. Sofia could only imagine what was happening in Sara’s mind and she wanted to get her out of that as fast as possible.   
“Please don’t…”  
“It’s alright honey.” Sofia got Sara in her arms and rocked her softly. “Everything is alright. It was only a dream, a nightmare, you’re safe. Nothing can happen to you, I’m here, I take care of you.” She kissed Sara’s hair, stroke her arms and didn’t stop rocking. There was no way she’d let the brunette go back to the case. No matter if they’d have a fight about this, it wasn’t good for Sara. She needed some distance, she needed to get the case out of her head.   
“What…” Slowly Sara’s eyes became clear.   
“You had a nightmare.” Sofia kept her in her arms.   
“He was back.”  
“He can’t be back, he’s dead. He will never hurt you again, Honey. And even if he wouldn’t be dead I’d take care of you. I’d never let you go anywhere alone.”  
“Only a nightmare.” Sara got up carefully and looked around. Sofia had switched on the light on the nightstand. The room was in a soft light, Sara saw her things, her empty glass of wine, the little Oscar she had bought Sofia in the afternoon when they were strolling around Hollywood Boulevard and did some souvenir shopping. The best friend in the world. It was an understatement.   
“Better?” Sofia asked softly.   
“Yes…I think.” Sara found Sofia’s eyes, the usually friendly ice blue eyes were filled with concern and a little bit darker.   
“I’m sorry to wake you up. I must have scared you.”  
“I’m a lieutenant nothing can scare me.”  
“You’re arrogant again.”  
“Self-assured. Do you want a glass of water?”  
“No thanks. You don’t have to baby me.”  
“I don’t baby you, I try to take care of you. That’ what friends do.”  
“No, a mother offers water, a friend offers whiskey.”  
“I won’t give you any alcohol when you’re like that. You can have water, a tea or coffee.”  
“Can I keep your arms?”  
“Definitely.”  
“Good. And now tell me what I don’t want to hear.”  
“No need if you already know what I’ll say.”  
“You don’t want me go back to the case.”  
“No I don’t and I’m prepared to fight with you for this.”  
“I don’t want to fight…Sofia, I want the killer locked away.”  
“So do I but I don’t want you to be like this. If you don’t care how this case affects you, I can’t make you care but I hope you care about me and it breaks my heart to see you like that, to find you in the night with nightmares, to see the sadness in your eyes. If you don’t want to go on for your own sake could you consider to stay away for my sake? Please.”  
“How am I supposed to say no? I can’t refuse a request of my best friend.”  
“You can, all you have to say is that I’ve to mind my own business.”  
“I am your business.” Sara smiled a bit. “We’re friends, we’re each others business. If you feel sad because of me I want to stop whatever makes you sad.”  
Sofia stroke with her finger through Sara’s face, following a nearly dried trace of tears.  
“I love you Sara. Seeing you suffering like tonight makes me really sad. But I know you won’t forget this case by only not going there anymore. I know you need to know the killer is locked away for your own sake. We go back to Macy tomorrow. All I ask for is one thing: stay by my side. I can’t protect you from seeing and feeling things only you see, feel and know about but I can be there whenever you need me to hold you. And I’ve no problems with holding you in my arms while the whole Los Angeles NCIS is stand around us.”  
“Neither have I.”  
“Good.”  
“Does that mean we’ll sleep now and go on doing what we can do best in the morning?”  
“Yes. You stay in my arms, I can wake you up faster that way. You had hidden on the other side of the bed, it took me too long to realize you have a nightmare.”  
“Stupid nightmare got me out of your arms to have the full power over me.” Sara grumbled.   
“This time I won’t let your nightmare win.” Sofia switched off the light and took Sara in her arms, holding her very close. The brunette wouldn’t escape her arms again.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Sara asked with a smile when they were in the elevator to the office level of NCIS. After a few words to the agents around they walked up to Macy’s office.   
“If you can’t go there otherwise I’ll do that.”  
“I can try first.”  
“My brave girl.”  
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a dog.”  
“I’d never do that.” Sofia waited until the door opened itself and let Sara leave the elevator first.   
“You don’t like spare time, do you?” Macy greeted them.  
“No, we prefer to work, get the killer and have some fun after that.” Sara smiled.  
“We’ve no new traces, none of the family members has this kind of boots. The only signs of a B & E and we can’t do anything with it.”  
“What if it wasn’t a B & E?” Sara asked.  
“You still like the father?”  
“I don’t like him to be the perpetrator but if there’s no real evidence of somebody breaking in, we’ve to look closer at the people already inside the house.”  
“Mom and dad.”  
“The father is home since five days?” Sofia had the file in her hand, reading over some of the reports.  
“Yes. Why?” Macy walked to Sofia.   
“Five days, doc Miller said the injuries were older. When was the last time he was here?”  
“I can check that.” Macy sat down on her computer. A minute later she had the timetable of the war vessel. “Four months ago.”  
“According to these files based of doc Millers examination the first injury had to be something like two or three months ago. If that time is right. the father wasn’t there. Leaves us with the grandfather and uncles. Anybody of them has size twelve?”  
“No. But you can put on bigger boots.”  
“I doubt they’d come in when the father is there.”  
“The parents stayed in the house.”  
“Opportunity. The child says she’ll tell her dad, the perpetrator panics and kills her.”  
“But why wait until they left again? It would be easier if he kills while they’re there.”  
“He’d become a suspect that way. He has keys, no problem for him to enter the house. He knows the parents have a deep sleep, abuses the child and kills her.”  
“They’ve keys of the house, no traces of a B & E, they know where to go, they know the habits…we need to find out who of the grandfathers might be the one we’re looking for.”  
“Not the grandfathers.” Sara whispered. She had stayed away from the two blondes, listen to their conversation.   
“Not?” Macy asked.  
“Sara?” Sofia tried not to walk to her friend too fast. Sara was pale, she looked like the last night when she woke up from her nightmare. Sofia got her hand not bothering to think about what Macy might think. She had promised to be there if Sara needed her, had promised she’d hold her when she needed to be hold.   
“I’m…I can handle it.” She wanted to say ‘I’m fine’ but she knew Sofia knew different and Macy could see that too. Nobody else was around, no need to pretend anything.   
“You don’t have to.”  
“As you said last night, it won’t leave me alone just because I don’t work the case anymore. It will haunt me until we found the killer.”  
“Okay.” Sofia left her hand on Sara’s arm. Sometimes it helped to feel the warmth of somebody else.  
“What do you mean with not the grandfather, Sara?”  
“There was no reason for them to come back, all they had to do was waiting a week until the father was gone again.”  
“If the child was about to tell her father…”  
“They had killed the child before the father was back instead of waiting until he was back and risk him to wake up.” Sara interrupted Macy.  
“So?”  
“The father as a deep sleep, what’s about the mother?”  
“She didn’t mention anything but she didn’t say she heard somebody entering the house.”  
“Do you think she knows the perpetrator? A secret lover? Wouldn’t be the first time the lover of the mother abuses the child.”  
“Happens quite often; unfortunately. Do you think the killer would kill the girl without that he…abused her?”  
“No.” Sofia got Sara closer to her. She wanted Sara to be out of this building and the case. She wanted her friend’s mind on something else. Something nice.  
“There was no sperm in the bed or anywhere in the child’s room. Nothing. No blood. You have a young girl, you have an adult, there’s always blood. There was no blood. I don’t think a man had sex with Flo…the child.”   
“Sara…” Sofia bit her lips and stopped when Sara shook her head slightly.   
“I don’t think the father has anything to do with this. His pain was real.”  
“Are you trying to tell us the mother abused and killed her daughter?” Macy asked.  
“Can’t prove it.”  
“Females are not that common as sexual abuser and they are more difficult to find. It’s easier to hide for them, they do give the children a bath, nobody thinks of anything bad when the mother is very close to the child.” Sofia stroke softly with her finger over Sara’s hand while she talked without noticing what she was doing.   
“Yes.”  
“Do you have any idea how we can prove that?” Macy looked at both. “I mean if we go there and tell them what you think, nobody will believe us. We need something. Accusing a mother that she abused and killed her child is…something you need to be sure of. Any idea how we can get some evidence for that?”  
“The boot print.” Sofia said. “We thought the whole time it belonged to the killer, that he broke in the house. What if the mother placed it there to make us believe exactly that?”  
“She could have tossed the boot somewhere.”  
“Yes she could. But I bet she paid for it and nobody pays for something cash anymore. Can you get into her bank account?”  
“Even in Las Vegas it should be illegal to do something like that.”  
“Not with a suspect.”  
“We can’t…screw it.” Macy took her cell phone. “Callen, I want you in my office. Now!” Without any explanation she finished the call.   
“He can get us the information but I don’t want him to do that in the office with other people around.”  
“Any idea how to get to her if Callen finds something?”  
“One step after the other.”  
Callen knocked on the door and entered. “What’s up?”  
“I need you to do me a favor.”  
“Shoot.”  
“I need you to access the bank account and the credit card of Misses Humpert.”  
Callen wanted to ask something but didn’t when he saw the face of his boss. The same about Sara and Sofia, who were still standing side by side, Sara more in Sofia’s arms than standing alone.  
“Okay.” He sat down at Macy’s computer.   
“We can search her car, her workplace but we won’t get a warrant if we don’t have anything to support your idea, Sara.”  
“What if we start looking over the evidence again, concentrating on her?”  
“We can do that. Callen?”  
“One more second…what are you looking for?”  
“Did she buy boots? Anything from a shoe shop? Any other shop that sells shoes.”  
“Shoes? You should have a look, women love shoes.”  
“Are you in her account?”  
“Yes.”  
Macy had a look over his shoulders. “Berrie’s.”  
“What’s that?”  
“You get hiking boots there.”  
“I told you, women know where to get shoes.”  
“As far as I remember the boot print was from a hiking boot. The date is a week before her husband was back, there were no hiking boots in their house. I wonder what she did with the boots.”  
“Care to ask her?” Sofia smiled.  
“I do. As soon as I know why we know about her shopping tour at Berrie’s”.”  
“How far is it away from their home?”  
“A few miles.”  
“We found the boot print, didn’t find anybody who owned a pair like these, they looked new so we started to ask around. Maybe a shop assistant will recognize Misses Humbert and tells us, she bought boots like them. Then we’ll wonder why she didn’t tell us that she bought boots like the ones we’re looking for. And why she wears boots size twelve.”  
“I’ll get a photo of her, a photo of the boots and Callen can get us a car.”  
“Yes boss.” He smiled and left the room.  
“Ready to join us girls?”  
“No.” Sara surprised them both by saying that. “Is it okay if I stay here?”   
“Sure.”  
“We’ll see you later.” Sofia said.  
“You can go with them, Sofia.”  
“Sure Honey, in your dreams. We’ll both stay. There’s a lovely café down the street, we’ll have some ice cream and wait until you’re back.”   
“I don’t ice cream.”  
“You get a coffee…also I think chocolate is better.”  
“For you, yes.”  
“Chocolate mud cake with ice cream…you got me there.” Sofia took Sara’s hand. “Give us a call if you find out something new, Macy.”  
“I will. Otherwise I’ll come around, I like the chocolate mud cake idea.”  
“Of course she does, twins.” Sara mumbled with a small smile. 

“It will sound stupid but I’ve to tell you I’m proud of you.” Sofia dipped a cookie in her cream. It was – like the ice cream – melting on the plate next to the hot chocolate mud cake and a banana.   
“For avoiding something?”  
“For not forcing you into something you know it’s not good for you..”  
“I am already in it.”  
“Yes but there’s no need to go in further.”  
“I don’t think you would have let me go.”  
“I can’t stop you from going anywhere but no, I wouldn’t like it.”  
“It’s not our case, we can stay out.”  
“Exactly. Macy should do something too. We had the brain now she can do the leg work and run around.”  
“Do you think we’re right? That the mother killed her daughter?”  
“Yes. That would explain why I thought the whole time I missed something. That I know who the killer is and just can’t see it.”  
“Abusing and killing your own daughter…what a mother.”  
“Can’t always blame the father.”  
“No.” Sofia got her free hand on Sara’s leg. They sat side by side, Sofia wanted to have some contact with her friend, wanted to be as close as possible and give Sara the chance to look out of window without having Sofia in front of her eyes all the times.   
“Get your hands off my pants.” Sara smiled.  
“Okay.” Sofia dropped her spoon and hugged Sara not without kissing her earlobe. “Your decision. The next time you’ll be happy to have my hands on your pants and not my lips on your earlobe.”  
“I’m very patient today. First you came very close while Macy was there, you didn’t bother to let me go when Callen came in and now you’re kissing me in a café. MY dear friend, you live dangerous. I might slap you.”  
“Sara you won’t slap me, not for taking care of you and you know that’s what I do. You liked me being that close to you in the office and you know it helps you. I’m not doing this just to hold your soft and or kiss your delicious skin…”  
“Stop talking like that, Sofia.”  
“…I do that because it’s good for you.”  
“You think it’s good for me.”  
“Don’t you feel better when I’m there for you? When you feel my arm on your arm. Doesn’t it scare the cold away that you feel when a case haunts you?”  
“Yes.” Sara had to admit.  
“See.”  
“Okay you know what’s good for me.” Sara laid her head on Sofia’s shoulder. “And yes, I feel better when I can feel you, when you’re next to me. Everybody feels safe when a lieutenant is around.”  
“I could be a detective and you’d feel safe.”  
“Or an officer.”  
“Don’t get too down with the rank. I don’t want to end up as a csi again.”  
“It must have been an awful time for you, being a useless and worthless csi.”  
“Yeah, not even an acting supervisor, only a csi. A nothing. No rank. Just…ordinary…that was so…embarrassing…”  
“A wonder you talk to a worthless csi.”  
“Talking to them is okay, they might learn something from me but I’ve a csi as my best friend and I love her. That’s something…I need to change that.”  
“Do you?”  
“Yes. For my honor.”  
“In that case I should leave you, shouldn’t I?” Sara didn’t move, she stayed exactly where she was, her head on Sofia’s shoulder, her hand in Sofia’s.   
“Nobody knows me here, nobody knows you’re only a CSI.”  
“You know. Your ego knows.”  
“My ego likes you. I’ve a soft spot for Grumpy Smurf.”  
“Bite me.”  
“Again? You complained the last time already.”  
Sara snorted.   
“I love you too.” Sofia kissed Sara’s cheek and moved a few inches away from her friend.   
“I wonder if they have the evidence to get Misses Humbert in.”  
“They’ll let us know. Are you alright? I mean when Macy calls can you go there? Can you listen to Misses Humbert? Or shall we stay away and wait what Macy and Callen will find out.”  
“Running away, avoiding problems, doesn’t help.”  
“No it doesn’t. But there’s no need to suffer more if you don’t have to.”  
“I want to hear why she did it.”  
“Then I’ll be by your side and listen with you.”  
“Thanks.” Sara smiled a bit.  
“You’re more than welcome.”

The door woke Sara up. Not that she had really slept, she was too scared to fall asleep. As soon as she'd sleep the nightmares would be back and nobody was there to hold her. Her guts had been right. Misses Humbert killed her own daughter after she had abused her for several weeks. The reason was something she did't tell Macy and Callen. It was the job of the shrinks in prison to find out why. Did it matter to Sara? She wished it wouldn't, but it did. To know why a mother did something like that to her own daughter was something Sara couldn't imagine and at the same time she was scared to hear reasons why. She knew this case would haunt her even when she didn't really worked it. She was involved and she suffered.   
That was the reason why Sofia had dragged her out to a club to dance. For over five hours they had been dancing until both couldn't dance anymore. The first hours they had danced with each other later they got some company from two men. Sara, still thinking of Ryan, didn't want more than dancing and when she found out it seemed to be alright for her company to have nothing more than a few hours of dancing, she relaxed a little bit more and enjoyed herself. The case was still on her mind but she got it a little bit in the back.   
"You can turn on the light if you want." She said the blonde who tried to walk through the room in the dark.   
"You should be sleeping."   
"I tried."   
"Give me five minutes and I'm with you." Sofia vanished in the bathroom and was in less than five minutes back in the room. Without light she climbed in the bed and took Sara in her arms.  
"Nightmares?"  
"I didn't sleep. I knew if I sleep I'll have them. So I stayed awake, hoped you'd come back and hold me. In your arms I'm safe."   
"Yes you are." Sofia kissed Sara's hair. "Sorry to let you wait. I should have come with you."  
"You did exactly the right thing. I wanted to go home alone."   
"Nevertheless I should have joined you."   
"I'm fine. And now tell me, did Mickey find a replacement?" Mickey was the name of the man Sara was dancing with.   
"Yes."  
"Thought so. A good looking guy like him won't stay alone for long. And you had some fun with Andy?"   
"Yes." Sofia grinned.   
"Means you had your man and won't act like a bitch in heat anymore.”  
“Hey." Sofia poked Sara gently.   
"Sorry I was just thinking of your comments the last couple of days, how flirtatious you were and that this should be over now that you had a man."   
"Two."  
"What?" Sara wasn't sure if she heard right.   
"Do you think I'd let a good looking guy like Mickey go home alone?"   
"You went with Andy and then with Mickey?"   
"Too much effort, Sara Honey, it's much easier to take both men at the same place. Saves some time to come back to your best friend. I won't give you details only this much: you missed out something."   
"I don't believe, you went home with two guys...okay it's you, I do believe it."   
"I didn't have two guys together since college...another thing I won't give you details of. All I can tell you is, I've their phone number, they're on a regular basis in Vegas so if we feel like having some fun, even if it's only dancing, we're more than welcome to give them a call."  
"You want to have an affair with two men?"   
"Affair?" Sofia laughed. "Sara I love you and I adore your skills as a CSI. When it comes to private life your skills are...you can develop them. Mickey and Andy are a couple. They love each other but they do enjoy having some fun with a woman every now and then. So for them sharing me was something they enjoyed and I enjoyed the attention of two men - two men who knew what a women want - too. So no affair only great sex. And I know when you're not suffering because a stupid man left you, you would think about having some fun with Mickey too. You're no saint, Sara Sidle."   
"No I'm not but at the moment I don't want a man in my life. They leave too much pain."  
“That’s why I’ve their number. For later. Want to sleep with me?”  
“If you’re talking about real sleep, yes.”  
“I’m done with the rest for today.” Sofia snuggled into Sara’s back and hair. “It’s nice to have you in my arms.”  
“It’s nicer to be in your arms.”  
“Good. I don’t plan to let you sleep anywhere else the next couple of nights.”  
“That’s alright with me. Sleep tight, Sofia.”  
“You too. And if you feel any nightmares coming up, wake me up in case I don’t realize these bastards are there.”  
“I will. Thanks.”  
“You’re welcome. Good night.”  
“Night night.” Sara smiled a bit. Now she could try to sleep. With Sofia, being in Sofia’s arms, she should get some real sleep.


End file.
